Element Of Dread
by Skogfru
Summary: Nina Bronson is a 22 year old waitress with no idea about the supernatural. Rated M just to be on the safe side. Please leave a review if you read it :)
1. Chapter 1

"You're always welcome to stay the night, you know." Grandma said from across the table. "I know, but I have work tomorrow and a cat to feed." I laughed thinking about how that was my life paraphrased into one sentence. "Okay dear, I want you to take this with you." She said while passing a bag over to me. "You look more and more malnourished everytime I see you, Nina." She continued while I opened the plastic bag full of bread, ready meals and tins.

She wasn't wrong, I had lost a bit of weight recently, nothing major but enough that it was noticeable to her keen eyes. It was from the stress of working and trying to afford a two bedroom apartment that seemly no one wanted to move into, apart from me. She walked me to the door while grandpa jim appeared from a room in the back. "Are you leaving so soon?" He asked. "Well, it's getting pretty dark." I said while glancing at my watch. It was only half 8 but the sun was setting quickly. "Ofcourse, best to always be home before dark. Are you still wearing it?" He questioned while glancing down at my hand. I laughed, "You'd never let me hear the end of it if I wasn't."

"When I was 12 or 13 he had given me a silver ring with a pentagram on it. Back then I only ever wore it when I was around him because I was embarrassed by it, until one day he saw I wasn't wearing it and I had to sit through an hour and a half lecture on why it was important. After that I wore it around the clock, I just turned it around so it just looked like a silver band. I hugged both my grandparents and thanked them for the food. I wouldn't admit it to them but living off tips at the restaurant meant that most of my meals were leftovers that the cook would give me at the end of my shift, so there was never really any food in my apartment.

"I got into my old Toyota and began to drive away. It was a 45 minute drive so I turned on the radio. I always enjoyed driving home from my grandparents house. I always had a full stomach and it gave me time to catch up with the new music on the radio. I began to think about my grandparents. I spent majority of my childhood at their small house with my sister. My father had always warned me not to listen to my grandfather's stories, saying that he was just a crazy old man, but as a child I loved them. They were always filled with so much detail and excitement. Other little girls got stories about princesses and castles, but my grandpa would tell us about mythical creatures and tales of a hero who used to defeat them. He used to read short extracts from an old hardback copy that he kept in the house. I began to wonder where it was now, I hadn't seen it in years. He stopped reading to us when I was 11 and my older sister, Liv, was 14 because she felt she was too old for bedtime stories. Just remembering the look of hurt on his face when she told him that made me sad to think about.

"I pulled into the parking garage of the old apartment building and took the stairs up to the lobby. I greeted the lobby worker, picked up my mail, then walked up two more flights of stairs. I fumbled in my handbag trying to find my keys without dropping the bag of food my grandmother had given me. I finally pushed open my door and dropped both the bags on the counter before opening my mail. Bills and more bills. I felt the familiar press of Zeb on my leg, I bent down to pet the ginger cat then opened one of the cabinets and poured out some wet food for him. Then I unpacked the food that grandma had given me and went to the bathroom to wash off my makeup. I looked in the mirror. I thought about how I was going to have to dye my hair again soon because my dark blonde roots were showing against my light blonde hair. I moisturized my face, brushed my teeth then turned off the light and returned to the living room.

"In the 2 years I had lived here, it still didn't look very lived in. Most of the furniture had come with the house, apart from a few lamps and cushions. I picked up my book from the coffee table and read till about 10pm then got changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and got into bed. I could hear the neighbours next door yelling, but couldn't hear what about. Zeb padded his way into the bed then curled up and fell asleep. I plugged in my phone beside my bed and closed my eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up around noon but didn't get out of bed. I checked my phone. 2 messages. "Hey can you cover my shift at 1? I have a family thing that i forgot about!" then, "I'll cover yours tonight." Both from Vera. "Sure thing, my shift starts at 5." I texted back. I groaned and got out of bed. I had an hour before my shift now. I went into the kitchen, opened a tin of cat food into Zeb's bowl on the ground then poured out some cereal for myself and made a cup of instant coffee. After I went into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, did my makeup and tied up my messy bed head. I got changed into my black work shirt and black leggings, put on my shoes then grabbed my handbag and keys. I petted Zeb and left.

As I was locking my door one of my neighbours was also leaving her apartment next door. Her face was red and puffy, I assumed that the arguing I had heard the night before was still going.

"Are you okay?" I asked after briefly wondering whether or not that was over stepping. "Yeah yeah I'm fine." She replied. I began to walk away when she said, "hey, have you heard or seen anything... weird lately?" I assumed she meant the arguments that I could overhear from my apartment. "I don't think so." I answered back, I didn't want to embarrass her by saying that the neighbours on either side of her apartment could hear her domestic dispute. "Okay." she said looking down at the ground. I looked at my watch, I had 15 minutes before my shift started. The look on her face made me want to stay and try to fix whatever was wrong but it took 10 minutes to drive to work and I didn't want to be late. "Hey, listen. If you need to talk about anything just come by my apartment. My shift ends at 5 today and I'm free all afternoon." Once I had said it I realized how weird it probably was to offer that. Her and her little family had been living in their apartment before I had moved in and in the 2 years I had been here we'd never exchanged more than polite nods in the hallway. "Emh… thanks." She replied awkwardly.

With that i began to walk away. On the way down to my car I mentally kicked myself for coming across as a weird, overly friendly neighbour. I unlocked my car and put my handbag in the passenger's seat. I switched on the radio but there was nothing but static. It must be because this is an underground parking lot, I said to myself. Sure enough, once I had left the parking lot the radio blared to life.

By the time I had found parking I was a few minutes late for work. "Where's Vera?" Asked one of the other waitresses. "Family stuff." I replied back to the pretty, petite brunette. She nodded and I went to put my bag in the office. While I was there I signed the work rota.

The rest of my shift went by like usual. The restaurant was semi busy, so most of my area was full. It was mostly the regulars, men who worked around the area who came for lunch and a beer on their break.

20 minutes before the end of my shift, I heard a commotion at the bar. A man had smashed a glass of rum on the ground. I made my way over. "Listen, I'll call you a cab, okay?" Leo, the barman, was saying to the inebriated, middle aged man, trying to calm him down. I could see Leo reach under the bar for the bat that was kept under there. The man began shouting obscenities. "What's wrong?" I asked him calmly. Once I was beside him I recognised him as a man who lived on the first floor of my building. "You live at the Suncrest, don't you? I live on the second floor." I said. With that he seemed to almost sober up, he looked me straight in the eye, "Have you seen it?" He asked. "Seen what?" I replied. He turned his head away from me. "Leo, my shifts pretty much over, why don't I take this gentleman home." "No, no, NO." He yelled. "I'm not going back there!" Leo looked at me and shrugged. "I'll just get him a cab to the nearest motel." Leo suggested. "Alright, well I'm gonna head home." I said to Leo. "Safe home." He replied. I did a small wave to the two other waitresses in the restaurant, who smiled back.

I walked out of the building, thinking about how weird it had been to meet two residents of my building, who were both obviously distressed, in one day. I got into my car as a black Impala pulled in, cutting me off from leaving. Come on, I just want to go home, I thought. It parked and I pulled out. I turned on the radio and drove home. As I pulled into the parking garage the radio once again turned to static. I switched it off as I parked and locked my car. At the lobby I checked to see if I had any mail - I didn't, then I walked up the stairs to my apartment.

I unlocked it and walked inside. I called her Zeb but he didn't appear, I assumed he was just asleep somewhere. I poured him some more food from a tin, even though he hadn't touched much of his food from this morning and then refilled his water bowl. I went to the fridge and took out one of the ready meals that grandma had given me, took off the packaging and put it in the microwave.

My apartment seemed colder than usual so I went to my bedroom and got changed into some comfortable, warm clothes. I called for Zeb again when I noticed he wasn't in the bedroom. I checked the bathroom and under the kitchen cabinets, where he sometimes liked to take a nap- nothing. I looked to the door of the spare empty bedroom, which was always closed. I opened the door and called. He crawled out from under the bed, his tail was bushier than i had ever seen. "How did you get in here?" I wondered out loud as he ran past my leg into the living room.

I heard a knock at the front door and closed the door to the empty bedroom. I walked over and looked through the peephole. It was the lady from the apartment next to mine. I opened the door. "Hey." I said slightly surprised. She made a small smile but didn't say anything. After an awkward pause I asked her if she wanted to come in. she followed me into the living room and sat on the sofa. I sat on the seat next to it. "I… " she began before the microwave beeped and she stopped. "Sorry," I said before walking over to the microwave and opening the door. I then sat back down. "What did you want to talk about? You looked kinda.. Distressed this morning." I said. "Have you noticed anything in your apartment?" She asked. "What do you mean?" I replied. "Well, some strange things have been happening lately and my husband.. Well, he doesn't believe me." She said with a sad look in her eye as she turned her gaze away from me. "What kind of stuff?" I prompted. "Well, cabinets opening when i'm not around, things being broken, things like that." I thought for a moment, but nothing like that had happened in my home. "You have kids, don't you? Maybe it's one of them?" I suggested. "I have a little girl, but she's only 18 months." She replied. "Oh.. " she began to shift uncomfortably. "She sometimes does this thing… where she'll just stare past me, then she'll start laughing or pointing but when I turn around there's nothing there." She stared into my eyes. "You don't believe me.. My husband doesn't either, but how would he, he's always at work when it happens."

I began to feel really bad for her, the stress of being home alone all day with a baby was probably getting to her, my sister had been the same when she first had her baby. "Well, I guess there was something weird that happened today. Two things really now that I think about it." She looked at me, waiting for me to continue. "When I was at the restaurant a man from our building was making a commotion at the bar. He asked me had i 'seen it', i'm not really sure what he was talking about though, then said he didn't want to come back here. Then when I got home I couldn't find zeb, my cat. Then I found him hiding under a bed in the spare room. But the door to that room is always closed because I don't use it for anything."

The woman almost smiled at me. "I knew it wasn't just happening to me. I knew I wasn't crazy. There's something going on in this apartment building." She said with such resolve that I almost wanted to believe her.

I smiled back, not knowing what to say. "I should go." She said suddenly. "John and Maia will be back from visiting his mother's soon and i still haven't made dinner." I got up and followed her to the door. She looked me in the eye and just said, "thank you." And left. I closed the door. That was strange, I thought to myself.

I walked over to the microwave and took out my, now cold, lasagna. I sat on the sofa and ate it in front of the tv as Zeb curled up beside my leg.


	3. Chapter 3

I jerked awake. My blanket was on the ground. I was lying in a cold sweat. I could only assume I had just had a nightmare and had kicked off my duvet. I reached down the side of my bed and retrieved it then checked my phone. 3;42am. I snuggled back into a comfortable position. My heart was beating slightly fast but I knew it would pass in a few minutes. Eventually I fell back into the inbetween of sleep and awakeness. Then I heard a voice. It was almost like a whisper. I couldn't make out what it was saying. The rational part of my brain told me that it was probably just something in my house making noise, like the pipes in the wall.

I lay in silence for a few minutes until the irrational part of me told me to open my eyes. I looked around in the darkness. Nothing. I closed my eyes again. The duvet seemed to be doing nothing in terms of heat retention. I was frozen. I got out of bed and went to the kitchen and turned on the overhead lamp. I took a hot water bottle out of a drawer and turned on the kettle. I turned towards the counter when the kettle was finished boiling. I then filled the hot water bottle.

I was about to screw the cap back on when i heard a crash behind me. I turned suddenly. I couldn't see what had fallen behind the counter, whatever it was, it sounded like it had broken. I stood still, frozen for a few minutes in fear. I then noticed a searing pain in my hand. The boiling water from the hot water bottle had burned my skin when I grabbed it too hard in shock. I dropped it and put my hand under the cold tap. The pain brought back some of my sense. Zeb had probably jumped onto the counter and knocked something over. My right hand was beginning to turn red.

I screwed the cap back onto the hot water bottle with the little water that remained and took a cover out from the drawer. I then went back into my bedroom and placed it in my bed. I opened the bathroom door to get a small towel to soak in water to place on my hand. I heard a hiss once the door was open. Zeb was cowering in the corner. "What are you-" i began to say before I realized, if it wasn't Zeb who had knocked something over in the kitchen, what had. And how had he gotten locked in the bathroom, I always leave the door open so that he can use his litter box.

I could feel the blood draining from my body. I was beginning to feel as crazy as the lady next door. No, it's just late at night and my mind's playing tricks on me, I rationalized. I still couldn't shake the feeling. I picked up Zeb and walked back to my room without the wet towel. I closed the door and set Zeb down on my bed.

I got into bed, but my heart was pounding to hard for me to even consider sleeping. I wanted to call someone, to tell them about everything that had happened tonight. But then I realized how silly it would all sound, especially at this time of night.

I pulled the blanket tightly around myself and hugged the hot water bottle to my body. Zeb sat quietly on the other side of the bed, his ears twitching occasionally. The pain in my hand seemed to only intensify. My hand hand a bright red blotch over most of it. Crap, I thought.

When I woke up, light was shinning through my window and i was cocooned in a blanket. I must've fallen asleep at some stage, I thought. I began to reflect on last night's events, wondering if it was all actually a dream, but the pulsating feeling in my hand made me realize that it had infact happened.

Feeling a lot more confident due to all the light flooding into my apartment, I walked into the kitchen. The fruit bowl my sister had given to me as a housewarming gift was smashed on the ground near Zeb's food bowls. I had never actually filled the bowl with fruit in all the time I'd had it. I moved his food dishes to the counter and swept the shattered fruit bowl into a the dustpan and then into the bin. I put the food and water bowls back onto the ground and sighed.

I looked down at my hand. Two blisters was beginning to form, one between my index finger and middle finger and the other on the side of my hand. I reached into the cupboard beside the fridge and took out a bandage. I wrapped it around my hand several times and secured it with the clip that came with it.

Today was my day off, so there was no where I needed to be. I looked at the overhead clock in the kitchen. 2;35pm. I had a full day to kill.

Then I heard a knock at the door. I walked over and looked through the peephole to see two men in black uniforms. I opened the door. One man was about 6"4 with longish brown hair, while the other was shorter, about 6"1 with quite a handsome face.

"Can i help you?" I asked. They both pulled out their badges, to reveal they were FBI. "We're just wondering if you'd noticed anything odd lately." He said with a slight grin. I took the shorter man's badge out of his hand to inspect it. From my peripheral vision I saw the two men exchange glances. "What do you mean by odd?" I said while handing back his badge. "Strange smells, temperature differences.. Things like that. Things out of the ordinary." He replied. I began to feel a bit uneasy. "And why are the FBI interested? Surely a broken thermostat in an old building is a bit below your pay grade?" I questioned. My mind was racing. Why were the FBI here? Was it something to do with what was happening to me and my neighbour? Would the FBI even investigate something like this?

"We're just here to protect and serve, ma'am." The taller one said. "No, I haven't noticed anything." I replied. "Do you mind if we come in for a minute?" The taller one spoke again. "I don't think so." I said uneasily. They glanced at each other again. "Do you mind if we ask what happened to your hand?" The taller one asked. "Hot water bottle accident." i replied coldly, looking down at my bandaged hand. "Okay, well thank you for your time." The shorter one said. I nodded and then closed my door.

I looked through the peephole to see them knock on my neighbour across the halls door. The young man who lived there opened the door. They chatted for a few minutes until the young pothead admitted that he didn't spend much time in his apartment because his girlfriend lived across town and he stayed with her most of the time.

The men once again asked could they come in and he let them. There was something about them that I didn't trust. Once his door had shut, I opened mine. I walked over to the next door on the same side of the corridor and knocked gently.

A moment later, the woman who come to my apartment the day before opened the door. I pushed past her and closed the door behind me and locked it. She stared at me slightly confused and scared. "What are you doing?" She questioned. "There are men in the hallway claiming to be FBI but it doesn't make any sense. They asked me had I noticed anything 'odd' lately."

"That's good, though. Someone here to help us. I know you don't believe me, but there is something going on." She said looking me square in the eye. "I know, some weird stuff happened last night. I do believe you. But think about it, why would the FBI be sent here? Why would they investigate some broken plates and opened cupboards. And their badges said Illinois. Why would they be sent all the way here? Why not just call the local police to investigate. It just doesn't add up." I said.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. We both stood frozen. She looked up at me, I shook my head. "Hello, anyone in there?" They called from outside the door. We stayed in silence. "FBI, we just want to talk." The man called out again.

It felt like hours before we heard them knock on a different door. "I never did catch your name." I said after a pause. "Maria, yours?" She asked back. "Nina." just then I heard a small cry coming from one of the rooms. "I'll be right back." Maria said to me. As she left I looked around her apartment, it was just like mine, but she seemed to be using her spare room. The apartment on a whole was a lot more homely than mine. It was nicely decorated with coloured blinds and patterned cushions on the sofa, she even had a fruit bowl with actual fruit in it.

Maria walked back into the open plan living room holding a baby. "This is Maia." She said with a smile. "She's gorgeous." I responded, not really knowing what to say. Maria set the infant down in a playpen in the centre of the room.

"So, what do you think is going on?" She asked me. "Honestly? I have no idea. None of it adds up. Anyway, I'm gonna head back to my apartment." I said. "Wait." she called as I was about to reach the door. "What happened to your hand?" She queried. "Oh.. I accidentally spilled hot water on myself." I laughed, not wanting to frighten her even more by saying something had startled me so badly that I spilt boiling water on myself without noticing.

That answer seemed satisfactory enough for her, so I looked through the peephole in the door to see if the two men were still out there. I couldn't see or hear anything so I figured that they were in one of the other apartments. I opened and closed the door quietly, then turned towards my apartment.

"'Cuse me." I heard from behind. I turned, it was the two men from earlier. Oh god, here we go, I thought to myself. "Yes?" I answered. "Do you mind if we ask you why you were in that apartment?" The taller one asked. "My neighbour asked me to water her plants while she was gone, do you have a problem with that?" I retorted. They both stared at me for a few seconds. "Anyway, I have things to do." I exclaimed before going back into my apartment. I bolted the door then stared out of the peephole. "You know you when you look through the peephole you block the light from getting through, right?" The shorter of the two said as he passed my door. I immediately dropped to the ground.

Zeb walked over and greeted me. I slowly picked myself back up off the ground and looked out once more. I couldn't see anyone. I walked past the kitchen and my stomach growled. I realized I hadn't eaten all day. I poured out another tin of food for Zeb, even though he hadn't finished his last one. "You doing okay, buddy?" I asked Zeb. He just quietly looked up at me. I went to the fridge and took out another ready meal. "I'm thinking hamburger tonight." I said out loud to myself.

After I had eaten I called my grandparents, neither of them picked up so I left a message. "What a weird day." I said quietly to myself.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning I got up at half 7 in the morning. I got out of bed and foggily walked to the bathroom. After undressing, I got into the shower. The heat from the water gave me more energy for the day. After washing my hair, I climbed out into a towel.

I wiped the steam off the mirror and stared at myself. The bags under my eyes were a lot darker than usual. I brushed my teeth and applied more makeup then I would on a normal day to make me look less dead.

I strolled into the kitchen while towel drying my hair with a small, green towel. I turned on the kettle, then sat on a stool beside the counter. I mentally made a checklist of the things I needed to do with my day. Once the kettle had boiled, I made a cup of coffee and poured out some cereal.

Once I was finished, I got a tin of cat food out of the drawer. Zeb hadn't touched much of his food in the past few days. After dumping the old food into the bin, I refilled his bowl with fresh cat food. Once he heard the tin he ran out of my bedroom. He looked at the food then walked away. "Why won't you eat? Is it the food? Are you sick?" I asked him. He just looked at me, I don't know what I had expected.

I got dressed quickly into my work uniform and tied up my still wet hair. I reached beside my bed to retrieve my phone. No new texts. I put on my jacket and picked up my handbag.

I petted Zeb then walked out the door, locking it behind me. I walked down all the flights of stairs and got into my car. I didn't even turn on the radio, knowing that it would just be static. I drove to work and arrived just on time. I put all my stuff in the office and signed the rota.

I put on my work apron with my notepad in the pocket. I went into the main area and began to set tables, checking ketchup and salt containers making sure they were full. The restaurant was never busy this early in the morning. I glanced at the clock, it was only 9;08am.

There was nothing left for me to do, so I sat by the bar. "What's up, Leo?" I asked the barman. "You alright? You look different." He fired back with a concerned smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just been a weird few days." I laughed. "We've all been there. You want a drink?" He smiled. Just then a few local men walked in, they sat in my section. "Maybe later." I winked.

I grabbed three menu's even though I knew these men would order the same as they always did. I walked over but before I could even hand them the menu's one of the men said, "3 full fry's and 3 coffees. Black. Thanks honey." I put the menu's under my arm and wrote the order down on my notepad. "Sure thing, fellas." I said with a smile.

I tore the order out of the notepad and clipped it to the rotating order stand. I then went over to the bar and made three black coffees and brought them back to the men.

I was more than halfway through my shift and everything seemed to be going smoothly. The morning shift was always slow and normally went without incident.

It was around 2pm and I was taking the order of a family of four when I saw someone come in from my peripheral vision. I figured it was just someone who didn't understand that you don't need to be seated, you can just sit down anywhere. I placed the families order on the order stand, then turned to help the person at the door. I turned around and froze.

"Fuck." I quietly said to myself. I began to walk to the backroom. "Wait!" I heard him yell as he paced over to me. I looked at him then towards Leo, who was watching the entire scene. Once the man had reached me, I said, "Not here. Outside." I glanced over at Leo and nodded. He slightly nodded back.

Once outside, I exploded. "What are you doing here, Alex?!" He took a moment then said, "I'm sorry, okay. Everything that happened was my fault, I accept that, okay? I'm in counselling for my anger now and they suggested that it might help my recovery if I apologize to you."

While he talked I stared at him. He looked the exact same as he had when we had dated. Short blond hair, piercing blue eyes, casual clothing. The only thing that had changed was that he had stubble now and seemed older, somehow. "You can have my forgiveness, but only if you promise never to contact me again. That means no texting me when you're drunk, or calling me at 4am or dropping by my work like you're doing right now." I shot back at him.

"I was hoping maybe we could get dinner or something. I just want to make it up to you." He exclaimed. "What?!" Was he serious? "No! The only reason I'm even talking to you right now is because I knew you wouldn't leave until we did and I didn't want to have a scene inside." I nearly shouted at him. "Just leave or I'll call the cops." I said as I began to turn around to go inside. Just then he grabbed my arm. I tried to jerk it back, but he held his grip. "Just fucking listen to me." He began yelling. "I just wanted to come here to have a fucking civilized conversation with you, and here you are being a bitc-" He was suddenly cut off by someone yelling, "Get off your hand off her. Does she look like she wants to be touched? No? Then get your hands off her." The shorter man snarled at Alex.

It was the two FBI agents from my building. Alex gripped my arm tighter. "And who the fuck are you? Her new boyfriend? Huh?" He cursed at the man. "No, I'm just a decent person. Now get your hand off her before I make you." I think Alex then realized that he couldn't fight both of the men at once, so he let go. "We're gonna finish this conversation." He promised while looking me straight in the eyes.

As he walked away the taller of the two men asked me if I was okay. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to go back to work." I responded as I turned around and hurried inside.

I strode into the backroom and closed the door behind me. I crumbled down onto the floor and began to cry. "Stop being such a baby." I said to myself quietly. All the repressed emotions came bubbling to the surface and all I could do was cry. All the anger I felt for Alex evaporated and I was just left with an aching sadness.

There was a knock on the door. I didn't respond. I didn't want to see anyone while I was like this. The door slowly opened and Leo tentatively walked in. "You wanna talk about it?" He coaxed. I shook my head.

"Alright." He said while sitting down next to me on the floor. "Whatever that was, it's gonna be okay. I promise." For some reason once he had said that I just began to cry harder. I could feel his discomfort beside me. He gradually put his arm around my shoulder. I leaned my head into his shirt.

After 5 minutes or so I asked, "Who's minding the bar?" He looked down at me, "I asked one of the regulars to keep on eye on it and make sure no one stole anything.. But now that I think about it, he's probably gonna be the one to steal free drinks." With that I began to laugh.

Then I looked at his shirt and saw I had left a wet patch from where I had cried, which just made me laugh harder. Leo looked down and then began to laugh aswell.

"I'm gonna go freshen up then I'll get back to work." I said with half a smile. "You can take the rest of the day off you know, I won't tell anyone. It's not like we've been that busy anyway." He suggested. "Nah, I'll be fine. Thanks though, I appreciate it."

I walked out of the backroom and turned left into the women's bathroom. I stared into the mirror. Around my eyes was red and my eyes were slightly bloodshot. Great, I thought to myself. I washed off my tear stained foundation with cold water, which seemed to help a bit. But it also made the bags under my eyes more prominent. There was just no winning.

I stayed several more minutes then went to go serve customers. The two FBI agents were seated in my section. I brought them over menu's. "What was that all about? Was he the one who did that to your hand?" The shorter one asked. The table shook slightly, so I could only assume that the taller one had just kicked him under the table.

"I'll be back to take your orders in a bit." I said instead of answering his question. I checked on the rest of the customers in my section, while avoiding eye contact with all of them hoping they wouldn't notice my bloodshot eyes.

I returned to the FBI agents table, took their order then placed it on the rotator. Then I say Melanie walk in. Thank god, I thought. She smiled at me and I made my way to the office to get my stuff while my replacement put on her apron. "Everything 'right?" She said with a strong southern accent. "Rough day." I said back. With that I walked out. I stopped at the front door and looked to Leo. He was already looking at me. I did my best 'thanks for being there for me' smile. I was about to walk out when I realized, what if he's out there waiting near my car?

I slowly walked to the bar, "Hey Leo.. I hate asking you to leave the bar again, but would you mind walking me to my car?" He just laughed, "Ofcourse not. Am I ever gonna find out who that guy was?" I looked up at him, "Maybe one day, if I'm drunk enough."

We reached my car without incident. "Thank you. I know I said it earlier, but really. I do mean it." I unlocked my car. "Anytime. Really. here, give me your phone." I rummaged through my handbag to find it then handed it to him. He typed a few things then handed it back. "If you need me, just call." Then he strolled back to the restaurant.

I drove back to my building in silence. I parked and got out. I went up to the lobby. "Hey." I said to the lobby worker. "I'm Nina Bronson in 43, I was just wondering if anyone came by asking for me that you could tell them I don't live here." The man gave me a curious glance but agreed.

I walked up to my apartment and unlocked it then locked it from the inside. Zeb meowed then ran over to my leg. I petted him then looked over at his bowl. He still hadn't eaten anything. I began to worry.

I took out my phone and googled the nearest vet's office and called there number. "Hello, this is the animal welfare clinic." A female voice said. "Hi, I was just wondering if I could ask you something." I queried. "You really should make an appointment, miss." She sighed. "When is your next available date?" I questioned. "The 3rd" she replied. "What? That's two weeks away? My cat needs help before then." There was a silence for several seconds. "Okay, What's your problem, I can't promise I can fix it, but…" She trailed off. "Well, recently my cat has stopped eating. It's been several days now. I don't know what to do." I pleaded. "It could be a number of reasons, your cat could be sick, or it could be from changing surroundings, it could be dental, or something around your cat could be stressing it out. But you really should have it checked out, because that's just a guess." She said. I thanked her, then we both hung up.

I was so tired. I didn't even bother to eat anything. I just took Zeb and went into my room and climbed into bed and passed out.


End file.
